Brazil, U.S. Begin Talks on Cotton Trade Dispute

By Jim.Robinson|February 11, 2010

Reuters

U.S. and Brazilian officials have begun talks to settle an ongoing trade dispute at the World Trade Organization over U.S. cotton subsidies, U.S. Ambassador to Brazil Thomas Shannon said on Thursday.

Brazil got the formal go-ahead to impose sanctions on U.S. imports from the WTO in November of 2009.

“I would like to underscore the will of the United States to avoid retaliation,” Shannon said, commenting at a news conference in the capital of Brasilia.

Only last month, Brazilian authorities said they had seen no signs from their U.S. counterparts that the United States wanted to negotiate a settlement.